Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai confirmed that four policemen were killed, while an Afghan media watchdog, the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), confirmed that eight journalists were also killed.

Situating the twin attacks.

The AJSC said that six journalists were reportedly wounded in the attacks. Agence France-Presse (AFP) confirmed that its chief photographer Shah Marai, a journalist from 1TV and one from Tolo News were among the dead.

A first bomb was detonated by an assailant on a motorcycle and left at least four dead and five injured, according to the Interior Ministry.

A second explosion came minutes after the first targeted reporters at the scene, Stanekzai told AFP.

A wounded man looks at the site of double explosions, in Kabul. — AP

“The bomber disguised himself as a journalist and detonated himself among the crowd,” he said.

A security source also confirmed both were suicide blasts.

The militant Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement issued via its propaganda agency Amaq. It claimed that two suicide bombers had targeted the Kabul headquarters of Afghanistan’s intelligence services.

President Ashraf Ghani’s government is under pressure on multiple fronts this year as it prepares to hold October’s long-delayed elections while its security forces struggle to get the upper hand on the battlefield and prevent civilian casualties.

Officials have acknowledged that security is a major concern because the Taliban and other militant groups control or contest large swathes of the country.

A series of attacks on voter registration centres across the war-torn has deterred many Afghans from signing up to participate in the October 20 ballot.

Some Western and Afghan officials expect 2018 to be a particularly bloody year.

General John Nicholson, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, told Tolo TV last month that he expected the Taliban to carry out more suicide attacks this fighting season.